บท 39: (XXXIX) Harmony
Sam panted heavily as he darted across the highway, racing toward his next destination: Indianapolis. It would initially be a stop on his way back to Saint Luis, but with the new developments, he had to stop there first.
Despite the appearance of the portals, rumors from his past life said that a Zodiac was in the city when it fell, and a couple thousand people survived, which is why it was renamed Harmony.
The immense population bloat would bring a great strain to both growing villages, but he was determined to make it work. If they could survive this, they would have an insurmountable advantage over the rest of the world.
'Harmony will never exist in this world...' Sam chuckled at himself, rolling his eyes as he quickly made his way toward the city. He made it to the outskirts in just over an hour and a half.
He sat on the edge of an overpass in the city, downing a bottle of water and exclaiming loudly as he took deep breaths, looking around. Now would be the real challenge: convincing as many people as possible to relocate.
It would take almost four full days for the people to walk from Indianapolis to Chicago and nearly a day longer to reach Saint Louis. Not to mention transporting as many animals as possible, he had his work cut out for him.
It was the new year, and winter was in full swing, yet they were lucky there wasn't any snow on the ground, and Sam needed to make sure everyone could make it safely.
Sam looked around the city and sighed, calling Khrista as she materialized beside him. He pulled his bag off and handed it to her.
"Stay out of sight and collect everything you can find." He ordered, and she nodded, bowing slightly as he pointed to a large and secluded animal pen near the city's outskirts.
"If you find any, bring all livestock there." He added, "As many as you can find."
"Yes, Master." Khrista bowed and slithered away.
Sam looked around once more before he looked toward the skies, smirking as he turned around and stared at an abandoned firework stall. He leaped toward it, soaring through the air and landing nearby, walking underneath the large tent.
He started grabbing large boxes of fireworks and throwing them onto a flat cart, using his electromagnetism to telepathically move it.
After grabbing all the appropriate fireworks, he hopped on the cart and held onto the handle, lifting it into the air as he flew toward the center of the city.
He struggled and strained to maintain a smooth flight, nervousness, and anxiety filling him with dread as the cart wobbled through the air and soared over the city.
The cart crashed down beside a fountain in the town square, the wheels buckling as the fireworks scattered in every direction.
Sam panted heavily and grimaced at the crash landing, chuckling to himself as he rubbed the back of his neck. He sighed, catching his breath as he looked around.
He jumped to work, lining the fireworks up closely together as he made seven rows and reached into his pocket, pulling out his father's zippo lighter.
The lighter clicked as he flipped the lid on and off as he stared at it, his mind drifting back to when it was given to him before his father left for his final tour.
He flipped it open a final time before kneeling next to the first firework and lighting the fuse, quickly moving down the row, igniting the last one before the first rocketed into the air.
One by one, the fireworks soared through the silent morning air and unleashed a loud explosion high above him. Loud screeches were heard as the rockets flew high into the sky before a resounding blast rang out.
The young man sat on the fountain for fifteen minutes before he repeated the process, waiting for people to start looking and make their way toward him.
'Maybe I should have gathered more..?' Sam thought after he had finished the last row of fireworks almost two hours later and had yet to see anyone appear.
He sighed, standing from the edge of the fountain, and scratched his chin, contemplating whether he should return with more fireworks when suddenly a voice rang out behind him.
"Hello there!" A man with a bushy mustache smiled, waving from the other side of the town square.
Suddenly, the plaza grew loud as a horde of people appeared, greeting him and their friends with a tearful reunion. Sam casually reciprocated the hellos, observing the gathering crowd.
'They don't seem to be Awakeners...' He thought, scanning everyone as he swept through the crowd.
'I do not believe so, Master.' Khrista replied, startling the young man as he looked around.
'Find a bag and stuff it with Beast Cores and hide it nearby.' Sam ordered telepathically as he jumped onto the fountain, looking around, estimating at least a quarter of the survivors arrived.
"Thank you all for coming!" Samael shouted, standing over everyone present.
"You look a little young to be with the army!" A man shouted through cupped hands.
"I'm not with the army." The young man proclaimed, "You're not safe here, and I'm here to help you get there!"
"You look a little young to be the one protecting us!" An older man in a hat yelled back.
Sam held his hand in front of him, sparks of lightning dancing between his fingers as dark clouds formed overhead. Thunder boomed overhead as the crowd pointed toward the clouds, talking in hushed voices.
With a loud crack, a tremendous bolt of lightning shot from the clouds, colliding with Samael's palm and creating a powerful shockwave that knocked the crowd backward.
The crowd burst into a roaring chatter as they pointed at the orb of wild electricity in Sam's hand. He held both hands out from his sides as the lightning arced over his head, reaching his other palm.
"Believe me..." Sam proclaimed loudly, holding his hands above his head as the lightning shot into the air, parting the dark clouds and dispelling them as the sun returned.
"I am plenty enough strong to protect all of you."
The crowd fell silent as they watched with eyes filled with shock as the young man leaped from the center of the plaza over the entire group of onlookers and landed on top of a nearby rooftop, kneeling.
A hushed whisper broke out among the crowd as the young man turned around, holding a large backpack, and casually jumped to the cobblestones below.
"Now!" He exclaimed with a smile, reaching into the backpack and pulling out an F Rank Beast Core, asking, "Who wants to follow me and join my group?"
The younger crowd leaped forward, lunging over one another to be the first to reach Sam as the older and more experienced crowd stood back, observing before they provided their answer.
Sam explained the changes to the world and how the crystals worked, handing out one to everyone who agreed to join him before sending them away to collect their things.
After sending the younger crowd away, he approached the older men and women, answering all of their questions to the best of his ability and explaining everything he could before some accepted.
He looked around at the now-empty plaza and nodded, vanishing from his position as he returned to the overpass, leaping off it as he soared through the air and approached the gathering crowd outside the large animal pen.
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